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Big Girl, Small Town
- Narrated by: Nicola Coughlan
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
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Big Girl, Small Town
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Summary
Shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award.
Stuff Majella knows
- God doesn't punish men with baldness for wearing ladies' knickers
- Banana-flavoured condoms taste the same as nutrition shakes
- Not everyone gets a volley of gunshots over their grave as they are being lowered into the ground
Stuff Majella doesn't know
- That she is autistic
- Why her ma drinks
- Where her da is
Other people find Majella odd. She keeps herself to herself, she doesn't like gossip and she isn't interested in knowing her neighbours' business. But suddenly everyone in the small town in Northern Ireland where she grew up wants to know all about hers.
Since her da disappeared during the Troubles, Majella has tried to live a quiet life with her alcoholic mother. She works in the local chip shop (Monday-Saturday, Sunday off), wears the same clothes every day (overalls, too small), has the same dinner each night (fish and chips, nuked in the microwave) and binge watches Dallas (the best show ever aired on TV) from the safety of her single bed. She has no friends and no boyfriend, and Majella thinks things are better that way.
But Majella's safe and predictable existence is shattered when her grandmother dies, and as much as she wants things to go back to normal, Majella comes to realise that maybe there is more to life. And it might just be that from tragedy comes Majella's one chance at escape.
Critic reviews
"Milkman meets Derry Girls. A cracking read." (Sinead Moriarty)
"A thrillingly fresh, provocative and touching voice." (Marian Keyes)
"Bawdy yet beautiful, full of everyday tragedy, absurdity and truth. I grew extraordinarily attached to Majella." (Sara Baume)
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What listeners say about Big Girl, Small Town
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Renae
- 11-01-23
Delightful, but slow
This is a beautiful read and Majella is immensely relatable, warm and delightful. However, it lacks action and pace to make it truly engaging for the duration.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-03-20
Brilliant
I couldn't stop listening. I became utterly fascinated by the lives of these characters and loved every moment and detail. Highly recommend. Beautifully narrated too, added to the sense of authentic storytelling.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Andrew G.
- 10-02-22
Sensational book superbly read
Utterly real, compassionate, funny, distinctive, memorable and captivating. I did not want it to end. Now to check out what else this author and this narrator have been up to.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- T. Lewis
- 28-10-21
Loved this book! Frank and funny!
Great book that I didn't want to end! I need more from this author... Get writing ✍
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Marie
- 03-03-21
Great story beautifully narrated
Really enjoyed this sbook. Great story, beautifully narrated. Was just sorry that it had to end!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 22-07-23
Addictive listen
Loved listening to this, but the ending left me wanting more. Maybe another Majella story?
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Ms Caroline L Donald
- 17-05-23
Brilliantly written, but nothing really happens
I loved listening to this, with superb narration from Nicola Coughlin and written so incisively, but I I kept waiting for something to happen or a story line to emerge. It doesn’t, it just comes to an end with zero resolution. The evocative language about the goings on on in the chip shop made me eat chips 3 times in a week!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Scribbler
- 11-03-20
Gave up on this
Sorry, but I found this book really heavy going. No story arc, no character development, just a rather dreary setting and a depressing group of people. Narration is fine, though the screechy mother was quite hard to listen to.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Olivia W E
- 30-07-21
my home
A brilliant performance. I am there with Majella from the get go. it is the Northern Ireland of my childhood. It is Nornirland at its best and worst and 'Jella making sense of it all.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- PMPM
- 17-03-24
Promised much but…
In my efforts to discover contemporary Irish writers I decided to give this book a try , mainly because it’s set in Northern Ireland so I was keen to hear the author’s ‘voice’.
I thought that Majella the central character in the novel would discover her own agency earlier in the book than in the last 5 minutes.
Though it’s evocative of small life in places where people cling on to faint hope and small mercies if they can’t leave , It’s a disjointed book.Aside from Majella there’s little character development. Relationships aren’t really explored to any great depth , characters drop in and out and life in the town seems relentlessly dreary. That maybe deliberate as there are inferences that Majella is neurodivergent . The story is told from her world view and she admits not just to not always understanding the behaviours and motivations of others around her but also feeling safer the few place she knows.
The ending was abrupt and disappointing especially given that it’s seems that Majella’s decision will overturn the fierce pride her grandmother had in the generations of family ownership of her farmland and fought fiercely against the existing patriarchy in the area to keep it.
I didn’t give up listening because I really enjoyed listening to the dialect . I kept hoping that there would be more evolving drama , disappointingly there isn’t.
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